NFL teams can be placed into one of two different categories: contending or rebuilding. The Los Angeles Rams, Buffalo Bills, Seattle Seahawks, and New England Patriots are in contention to reach Super Bowl LXI. The Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, and Arizona Cardinals are rebuilding and likely will be in contention for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2027 NFL Draft.
The Tennessee Titans are just kinda… there. It’s safe to say they’re much closer to the latter than the former, but they also believe in their quarterback, have some fun pieces to build around on both sides of the ball, and have to feel much better about their situation at head coach. If they’re going to lose a lot of games, at least they’re confident in the fact that there’s a vision: Age: 472025: San Francisco 49ers (Defensive Coordinator)2024: Green Bay Packers (Offensive Assistant)2021-2024: New York Jets (Head Coach)2017-2020: San Francisco 49ers (Defensive Coordinator) Saleh, much like everyone else who takes over an entire franchise, will inherently be compared to those who came before him in Nashville, Tenn.
It’ll be easier to outperform some than others… Mike Vrabel, Brian Callahan, and Mike McCoy have all been in charge at some point over the last three seasons. Vrabel had the organization within one game of the Super Bowl, took home the 2021 AP Coach of the Year, and led them to the postseason three consecutive years for the first time in franchise history (2019, 2020, 2021) — but that wasn’t enough to keep him from losing his job following a 6-11 finish in 2023. Callahan was hired as his replacement and it didn’t take long to see that he wasn’t a fit, though he was given a second chance before blundering it midway through his second season, finishing with a 4-19 record across 2024 and 2025.
McCoy was an interim choice that never had much of a chance to be named full-time head coach, as he played out the string last season before moving on to join Klint Kubiak’s staff with the Las Vegas Raiders. It’s safe to say the arrow has been pointing down for a while now, so expectations are quite low entering 2026. Saleh genuinely only needs to get things pointed in the right direction, which doesn’t even mean winning games.
If he can help with the development of Cam Ward, get positive contributions out of rookies Carnell Tate and Keldric Faulk, and improve one of the worst defenses in football by getting more contributions out of the likes of Jeffery Simmons, Jermaine Johnson II, and Amani Hooker, he’ll be their best guy in years.
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